How the Story Ends
by Ali-Kun
Summary: [Adopted from Fanfiction Bard] The Black Mage is rising after his defeat centuries ago. His armies and commanders are returning, but so are his enemies. Can a young farmboy with a great destiny and a dragon who is the last of his kind find the courage to destroy this evil once and for all?
1. Prologue

**Me: So…er… My first time adopting a story! This is 'How the Story Ends' from Fanfiction Bard. I probably won't be able to write this as well as him, since I've never had a go at writing serious things (horror, yes, but never sad/serious). So if you find this story to be worse than when it was written by FB, I understand. Hopefully, I won't take out anything that you liked about his story though… _ I don't own Maplestory, and, considering that I adopted this, I don't really own this plot either XD Side note: The first 17 chapters will just be me copying FB's chapters and editing certain parts, since if I completely rewrite I'd probably completely change the story.**

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_Prologue_

Freud limped over to the altar at the center of the room, most of his remaining strength already gone. Leaning on his staff for support, he was a pitiful sight to see. His robes were burned, his hair singed and painted a wet crimson, and a path of blood marked where he had dragged himself over the floor. Discarding his staff, he finally dropped to the ground, and onto the steps leading to the altar. Von Leon's claws had left a nasty wound on his left lower abdomen, his blood escaping from his scars as if chased by a monster.

He knew he was dying. Even though Freud knew a plethora of healing spells, this was no ordinary wound. Von Leon was a monster, possessed by the demon Marbas. Wounds left by his claws were especially fatal, and the amount of injuries on him was deadly enough.

Why he even decided to haul himself to the altar was beyond him. Perhaps he had hoped that someone would be there to save him, Freud bitterly thought. For someone to fix his failure.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. They were supposed to defeat the Black Mage once and for all, and come out of it alive. Instead, they simply managed to imprison the monster and his commanders, both of their armies wiped out completely, with the five Heroes trapped in ice, cut off from the world, scattered throughout the Maple World, and frozen in time for all eternity.

They didn't deserve that. They were willing to lay down their lives to keep this world safe, but what they suffered was a worse fate than death.

A fate that Freud should have suffered. He hated Afrien for taking the curse for him. That should've been him. Freud made Afrien promise that he wouldn't try to risk his life for him, but the King of Onyx Dragons, curse him, was far too selfless.

For love of his friend, Afrien took the curse and damned himself to the Ice of Time. Freud knew that his friends' sacrifice was in vain. The magic that held the Black mage would not last forever, and when he broke free, the Heroes would not be there to-

Wait a second.

Freud remembered that he was in the Temple of Time, for Rhea's sake! Powers incomprehensible to even a powerful mage such as himself existed here. The Black Mage used the Temple's power to make the Ice of Time Curse, and Freud could use its power to break it.

Freud mustered the last bit of strength he had, and crawled closer to the altar. He managed channeled what little magic he had left. With his injury, casting spells was painful, like having a fire lit in his gut. If he had the strength, he would scream in pain.

However, the agony would be worth it if he could use enough magic to tap into the Temple's power.

The pain was spreading to Freud's lungs, making it excruciating just to breathe, but the pain was interrupted when he felt his magic touch the Temple's power. Finally.

Freud then chanted in the Dragon-tongue, a language that was dead to most of the Maple World but revitalized when he met Afrien. Freud spoke an incantation that connected the Black Mage's prison to his friends'. That way, when the Black Mage's curse would fail, so would the Heroes'. When he was done, he chanted a spell that sent Afrien's egg to a safe place in the Maple World, where it would stay there until a new Dragon Master arose.

There. The easy part was done. Still, using power from the Temple of Time had a steep price. It required a soul that would spend the rest of eternity being a Guardian of the Temple.

With his shaking hand, the mage withdrew a small knife from his belt.

He remembered being a small boy being told stories of heroes and adventurers…

…_when he went to Orbis and studied magic with the Faerie mages…_

…_when he traveled to Leafre to study dragons…_

…with his last once of strength…

…_when he met Afrien after the dragon saved his life from being devoured by a swarm of wyverns…_

…_when he and Afrien and made the Spirit Pact…_

…_when he and Afrien took their first flight together…_

…he brought the blade up to his throat…

…_when he met Luminous, Aran, Mercedes, and Phantom…_

…_when he cried out in anguish, hurt, and self-loathing once Afrien took the Ice of Time Curse for him…_

…And he felt the cold metal slice into the soft flesh, blood dribbling into his lungs, and dripping down from his mouth onto his robes. The pain was fleeting, but not as bad as he thought it would be. Maybe it was just small compared to the other pains he had felt throughout his life.

_I have done my part._

Surprisingly to himself, he had a grin on his scarred and bruised face as his dying body disappeared in a flash of blue light. The rest was left up to fate.

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**Me: … Of course I wasn't too lazy to rewrite the whole thing .-. XD Okay, so maybe I was a bit lazy. But to be honest, I first tried to write it on my own, and it started to take a different direction xP So… the easy way it is! (-u-)b**


	2. The Dream

**Me: And… I'm back! I'm surprised at myself for not taking a week to start on another chappie… Well, let the chapter commence! Also, I own nothing.**

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Evan walked through the forest, his stride careful, and his vision clouded by dense mists. Strange, glowing symbols were carved onto boulders. Moss covered logs and wide trunked trees populated the forest, and seemed to go on for miles. "Where am I?" Evan thought, looking around.

"The Pact…"

"What was that? I heard something!" Evan exclaimed, feeling more nervous with each passing second. "Who's there?" Was this person, or whatever they were, going to help him? Was it just someone else lost like him? Or was Evan falling into a trap, a predator waiting for the prey?

Evan took some time to focus not on the strange, disembodied voice, but on the environment around him. He didn't even know a place like this existed near his house.

"You who are seeking a Pact…"The voice was louder now. Closer.

"Who's there?" he repeated, eyes shifting back and stopping upon seeing a patch of bushes, a perfect place for someone to hide.

"Did it come from over there?" Evan wondered out loud. With a combination of fear and trepidation, Evan approached the bushes and pushed them out of the way, and looked to see the owner of the eerie voice.

Evan couldn't believe his eyes.

Curled up in the center of a clearing was a real, living dragon.

With surprising boldness, Evan stepped closer to the creature to take a closer look. The dragon's scaly hide was a dark shade of purplish-blue, golden claws, and long, golden horns protruding from the back of its head. Its eyes were closed, which meant it was sleeping, thank the gods, and its massive wings were folded against its equally large body. On the dragon's snout, was a strange symbol, glowing golden with power .

Evan had only heard stories about such creatures. How their majestic beauty was only rivaled by their sheer power. He heard legends of people who worked with dragons and have done great things, as well as brave warriors who fought dragons gone mad. Utah must be right when he said his little brother had no common sense, because Evan began to step closer to the beast, enraptured by its presence. He just couldn't help it. There was something about the dragon that was beautiful yet terrible at the same time. It was so mesmerizing, and he wanted to touch it. Evan lifted his hand to the dragon's side, and felt the smooth, yet hard and scaly surface of its torso .

Suddenly, the dragon opened its eyes, and got up at frightening speed. Evan fell over on his back, frozen with absolute fear. He would have ran, he would have curled up into a ball and cried for his mother, but he couldn't. He was just too petrified.

His entire life flashed before his eyes. He would never see his family again. He would never hear his mother scold him, he would never listen to his father grumble about the weather or how little money they had, and he would never be able to annoy his brother again, vice versa .

Evan expected the dragon to open its mouth and make him disappear forever in a blazing inferno. True enough, the dragon did open its mouth, but instead, it spoke.

"You, who are destined to be the Dragon Master. You have finally arrived."

"What?" Evan's voice quivered. What on earth was this monster talking about? Destiny? Dragon Master? The creature spoke as if Evan should know what he was talking about.

"Go and fulfill your duties as Dragon Master…" The dragon's voice was deep, rich, and commanding, almost like a king's voice. What duties was it talking about? The only duties he had was feeding the pigs and running errands in town. And the penalty was far worse than being eaten by a dragon or incinerated. He would have to clean the pig's pen, which was always swimming with manure.

Suddenly, everything began to fade to black. Evan's perception on this strange place began to fade away, as if the entire forest was a bird that landed on Evan's shoulder, and was now flying away. The last thing he heard before it all went black was, "Carry out the terms of the agreement."

Suddenly, Evan woke up in a cold sweat, eyes darting around his room like he expected a dragon to be in his room. Instead, he was half strangled by the sheets and just an inch away from falling out of bed.

"Oh, good." The fourteen year old sighed in relief. The whole thing was just a dream. There was no psychotic dragon messing with his head, no eerie forest filled with mists and weird rocks.

Running his fingers through his dark brown hair, Evan pulled the sheets off of him. But there was one thing that caught his eye, something way out of the ordinary.

There was a strange symbol on the back of his right hand. It looked like a tattoo, but Evan definitely remembers never getting one. His mother and father would wear out their vocal cords screaming at him if he ever got one. But that wasn't what scared Evan. What made his flesh crawl was that the symbol looked exactly like the one in his dream, carved on the rocks, on the dragon's snout. Okay, now this is really freaky.

His thoughts were interrupted by his brother calling him.

"Evan!" Utah called. "Evan, wake up! I know you're up there, I can hear ya bein' lazy up there!"

Evan rolled his eyes at his older brother's insults, but he never got angry at him, just amused. Busting each other's chops was a little habit they came up with since Evan was able to speak. It was their way of communicating. They would poke fun at each other, and then Utah would give his "baby bro" a merciless noogie. But fortunately for Evan, he was just as tall as his brother now, which annoyed Utah to no end, so he would be able to fight back.

Evan quickly got some fresh clothes on, an orange t-shirt and jeans. He was about to get downstairs, until he remembered the tattoo. Utah would likely blackmail Evan if he saw the tattoo, and he would never survive if either of his parents found out. So, Evan quickly put on some fingerless gloves. He'd just say that he didn't want to get scratches on his hands when he went to feed the dog. That little bastard bit like a rabid wolf.

"'Bout time, baby bro. The sandman must have a crush on you." Utah said with his trademark obnoxious smile. Utah and Evan had near similar facial features, and the same dark brown hair, but Utah had his mother's hazel eyes, while Evan had their father's light blue eyes. They were about the same build, years of manual labor making them both lean, and they had a slight tan that would come from working on sunny days. Being three years older, Utah was taller, but just by half an inch. Evan was still growing, and always teased Utah that he stopped growing a long time ago. Sometimes Evan would even say that his older brother was shrinking, earning the younger brother a noogie.

Utah was sitting at the table, gulping down orange juice. Their mother, Anna, was by the stove, stirring a pot of porridge.

"Morning, sweetheart." His mother smiled at him.

"Morning mom." Evan hadn't noticed it, but merely his voice betrayed how tired he was. The dream he had didn't exactly give him a good night's sleep.

"Did you sleep alright, Evan?" Anna's brow knitted in concern as she saw how tired he looked. Evan considered telling her mother about the dream, but banished the idea as fast as it came. If Utah heard about the dream, his little brother would never hear the end of it, and Evan would rather forget about it. So he just said "Not really", and shrugged the question off.

"Was it the storm?" His mother asked. Evan was so caught up in his dream that he didn't even remember that there was a storm last night.

"I guess," he simply said. Evan sat down on the chair across from Utah's. After breakfast, the two brothers walked outside.

"It's a bit too bad you didn't get much sleep, little bro. Dad gave you a special assignment today!" Utah said, grinning.

"What now? One of the pigs acting crazy? Did the dog piss on the porch again?" Nothing Evan couldn't handle.

"Nope! This time Lee ran away."

"Again?" Evan groaned. The piglets were a handful, but there was one piglet named Lee, that always managed to get himself out of his pen. How he did it was still a mystery to the farmers. Utah tried on several accounts to sell the piglet, but no one was interested in a pig that small.

"Again." Utah answered smugly. "And guess who has the honor of escorting him back home?" He announced it like Evan had just won a million mesos.

"Why can't you do it? You're the older one. Aren't you responsible enough?" Evan asked teasingly.

"Of course I'm responsible." Utah threw his nose into the air haughtily. "But you know, I have to feed the pigs, feed the dog, milk the cow, all that jazz. Finding Lee, doing all the annoying, pointless grunt work, that's your job."

"What's the matter bro? Afraid Lee ran into the woods? Is the big bad older brother afraid of a few trees?" Evan said, smirking.

"Of course not!" Utah huffed. "I fear nothing!"

"There's a fox right behind you."

"Eeeek!"

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**Me: I think I did more editing here than last chapter, but it's still really hard to notice -3- Just saying, don't expect updates like this a lot. Like I've said a lot of times, I'm lazy and not really time-efficient, so usually my updates on stories are dragged out unless I'm really motivated. **


	3. The Egg

**Me: I don't own anything, otherwise I would not be on this site.**

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A young girl skipped merrily through the forest, admiring how beautiful the trees looked in the summer climate. She was rather short, no taller than five feet, with unkempt blond hair. She wore simple clothes, shoes, and a red ribbon around her neck done into a bow. Penny, a talking cat, always had to tell her what to do, a cat not having thumbs and all to use.

Despite that, Penny had raised Lania for as long as she could remember. The cat told her that her parents one day left for the market and just never came back. They both could only guess what happened. Penny presumed that they had abandoned her, although she never said so, for the child's sake. Ever since then, Penny had fed Lania, taught her, and took care of her like she was her own kitten. In fact, that was Penny's name for the girl, "her little kit."

Today, Lania was planning on going to climb that enormous tree not a quarter mile from her home. Climbing and reaching the top of trees gave her a rush like no other, making her feel like one of the heroes from the stories Penny told her.

She was about to look for a suitably low branch on the tree to start her climb, until she heard a moan. It wasn't the ghostly moan she would make when she was trying to scare Penny. No, this moan sounded like a pained one.

"Penny?" Lania asked to open air.

No answer.

"Penny, if it's you, you're not scaring me," the girl lied. Silence ensued, as if refusing to answer her question.

Lania carefully walked towards where she heard the moaning. Picking up a stick that was light enough to carry, yet heavy enough to leave a lasting mark on someone's head, Lania moved towards the sound with a bit more confidence, only to drop the stick when she found the culprit of the noise.

Lying with his head at the base of the tree was a young man in pure white robes with a golden trim. He wore leather boots, leather fingerless gauntlets, and a fair amount of jewelry that told he was wealthy. An amethyst pendent hung around his neck, two rings on each hand, and a gold earring on his left ear. Although he looked as if he was no older than twenty, his hair was whitish gray.

Lania walked over to the unconscious man, and gently shook him by the shoulder. "Sir? Sir? Wake up."

The man groaned and opened his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for a week and was being woken up from a long anticipated slumber. Lania saw that his left eye was a clear blue, but his right eye was blood red. For some reason, the crimson eye sent shivers up Lania's spine, as if there was something evil lurking behind it. She dispelled the thought soon after though, reminding herself that there was surely a reason why his eyes were like that and that she shouldn't stereotype.

"Did we beat him?" The man asked. Despite his weakened state, there was fierce determination in his eyes, as if aching to know if they beat "him", whoever "he" was.

"Beat who?" Lania asked, confused.

"The Black Mage, of course." The man said impatiently.

"The Black Mage? I heard about him, in stories. He's not supposed to be real, though."

"What?" The man seemed to be in some kind of distress. He slowly got up, his impressive height towering above the small girl. "Where are the others?"

"What others?"

"The other Heroes. The ones who helped stop the Black Mage."

"Um," Lania didn't know what to tell this strange man. "I'm pretty sure they're myths too."

The man turned away, looking like he was deep in thought. He started to pace away, but winced and fell down as he felt a sharp pain in his thigh.

"Are you okay?" Lania asked, concerned.

"I'm fine-" The man tried to get up again, only to fall down again.

"We can take you to my house. Penny can help you."

"Who's Penny? Where are your parents? Are you alone?"

"I don't know where they are. Penny has been taking care of me as long as I could remember."

The man's stoic expression betrayed a fair amount of sympathy. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"That's okay." Lania smiled at him. "Come on. Penny can fix you."

The man looked like he was going to protest, but for some reason decided against it.

"My name's Lania. What's yours?" The girl asked as she found the man a stick nearby for him to use as a cane.

"Luminous."

_ _~BACK WITH EVAN~_

"I swear, when I find that damn pig, I'll make bacon out of him and throw him to the foxes!" Evan trudged through the fields, trying to get to the lush forest that bordered most of the farm. He adjusted his straw hat to keep the rays of the sun out of his eyes. His father told him that the piglet had run towards the forest, although Evan could never imagine what would have possessed the little monster to go there. All the pigs avoided the forest, whatever the cost.

"Here, Lee! Come on out, Lee! Where are you, you little- Ack!" The next thing he knew, Evan was falling into an enormous hole in the ground that he swore wasn't there a few seconds ago.

"I hate pigs," was all he could say when he got up after he hit the ground with a thud.

He got up and looked around, before squeezing his eyes shut and reopening them just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

It was weird enough that there was an entire forest down a hole. What was even creepier was that Evan was in a forest that resembled the one from his dreams. No, it didn't just look like the one from his dream. The forest matched the one from the dream with the same mist, same trees, and same eerie stones. All that was missing was-

Uh-oh.

Evan tried to see if there was any way out, but there was no way he could get out through the hole. The only way out was forward.

He carefully tread through the forest, every move planned and every step as quiet as he could make it. If there was a sleeping dragon, he didn't want to wake it. He had walked for about ten minutes when he saw something that he definitely didn't see from his dream.

Lying on a stump was a light blue egg that was giving off an eerie glow. It was about the size of a soccer ball, and was almost a perfect sphere.

Suddenly, Evan felt a mild pain on the back of his right hand, where the symbol was. Hastily, he pulled off the glove, and saw the symbol glowing. He looked at the egg to see the exact same symbol on its hard surface, glowing just as brightly. In awe, Evan brought his hand closer to the egg, barely touching it.

Evan could never quite explain it, but he felt different somehow. The closest thing he could describe the feeling as was wholeness. And he knew it had something to do with that egg.

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**Me: Well, another lazy update ;u; I'm so sorry for the lack of difference, but I really don't want to rewrite the whole thing XD**


	4. New Partners

**Me: Aaaand… I'm back! With another ****revised**** rewritten chapter! I finally started the ask blog I wanted, so I might spend even more time away from this story, submitting random pictures onto the blog. Sorry x3**

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Evan's parents were at the market and Utah was probably shirking his job of feeding the pigs and hiding somewhere. The thought brought a grin to the brown-haired boy's face. Utah prided himself with being a master at concealing himself, over the years becoming quite creative with his hiding spots.

Evan, not hiding, was in his room, observing the mysterious egg he found.

Evan spent a lot of his free time just staring at the egg sitting in the incubator. It had taken a lot of convincing, begging, and arguing, but Evan's parents finally managed to let him keep the egg, provided that Evan would take care of whatever hatched, and that he be responsible for it. They were more lenient with Evan getting pets, because ever since he was young, he'd find injured animals and take them in for a while until they fully healed.

It was about a week since he found the egg. Evan would sometimes go to the lush forest and try to find the place he found the egg, but he couldn't. It simply wasn't there anymore. It was as if the hole and the eerie forest had just vanished from existence.

Aside from staring at the egg, Evan would think about the dream. He had forgotten most of it now, but he remembered some kind of pact, someone returning, and of course, the dragon. How could he ever forget that?

Evan's deep thoughts were interrupted by the egg beginning to shake and cracks started to form over its surface. Thousands of questions ran through Evan's mind. What would hatch from the egg? Would it be friendly? What would it look like? Will it call him 'mama'?

Evan had been preparing for this ever since he brought the egg home. He remembered his mother's words. "The chick needs to stay inside the yolk for three days. They'll eat the yolk, and then you'll have to feed them yourself." While this was probably not a baby chick, it was as close as he could get. "After that, make sure they have a fresh supply of food and water all the time."

While he wasn't sure that this was a chicken's egg, but he figured that whatever came out of this egg would have similar needs. According to his mother, it could take several hours.

Contrary to everything Evan heard about hatching eggs, the egg shattered in an instant. Out from the goo and yolk came what appeared to be a lizard, about the size of a kitten. Its scaly skin was baby blue, with a whitish underbelly. Its arms and legs were short and stubby. It had a short tail, a small snout, drooping ears, and short, stumpy golden horns on the back of its head.

This was sure as hell no chicken.

**"The outside world is a lot better than what I imagined." **Evan heard a voice in his mind, but he somehow knew it was coming from the lizard. The poor farm boy just looked at the lizard dumbfounded.

**"Are you my master? Huh. I imagined you differently."**

"Holy crap!" Evan exclaimed. "You talk!"

**"You're a strange human. Oh well. Guess I'm stuck with you. Hi. Nice to meet you. We'll be seeing a lot of each other now."**

"Wait, what? What do you mean?"

**"What do you mean, 'what do you mean?' You woke me up! You helped me hatch. And most importantly, we made the Spirit Pact!"**

"Slow down, boy, or girl." Evan sighed. "So many questions, I'll start with, what are you?"

**"What am I?"** The lizard seemed offended. **"Don't you know a dragon when you see one, pally? Yeesh, you'd think that the human you bonded your soul with would be a little smarter! And for your information, I'm a boy."**

"You're a dragon?"

"**You got it, bud. Now, what's your next question?"**

"Okay, uh…what do you mean when you say I'm your master?" The dragon immediately perked up.

**"I was waiting for you to get to that one! See, we've made the Spirit Pact. Essentially, we've merged our spirits into one. You can't change your mind about the Pact, by the way. It's done. Never to be broken."**

"Wait a sec," Evan said, bewildered. "You're saying I have no choice but to help you?"

**"Yeah. What's with the face? You don't wanna be my master?"**

"Oh no, no. I'm honored and all, but I don't think I'm ready for that. For a pet." In all honesty, Evan was expecting to find the egg's mother before it hatched, not to be the creature's surrogate mother.

**"PET?! How DARE you! I am a DRAGON! The mightiest being in the world! Hear me roar and tremble!"** The newborn dragon tried to roar, but all that came out was something sounding like someone with a sore throat trying to roar.

"Yeah, I'm petrified," Evan laughed. He was beginning to like this dragon. "Oh, I have another question, what's your name? Or do you not have one yet?"

**"We dragons are born knowing our names. My name is Mir. And you are?"**

"Evan."

**"Well, Evan, I think it's time I show just what I can do. Is there a super-awesome demonic fearsome monster worthy of my flames we can slay or anything?"**

"But you were just born a few seconds ago. How can you defeat anything?"

"**You underestimate me Evan. Dragons are born with the knowledge of our kind. It's these natural instincts that make use as powerful as we are. Just take me to an enemy, and let me work my magic!"**

"Um," Evan said, wracking his brain for any 'enemies' for the supposed baby dragon to defeat. He did not want to find out if the dragon want a true enemy or just something to use as a punching bag. "Oh, I know! There've been some foxes trying to take our chickens lately. Maybe you can take them down."

**"Great!"** Mir, with grace and agility that no one would ever expect from a newborn creature, climbed onto Evan's shirt and onto his shoulder, **"Let's kick some fox butt! Uh, foxes have butts, right?"**

"I guess?" Evan never would've thought he'd had to answer that kind of question.

**"Then let's kick some fox butt!"**

Evan walked outside, with an enthusiastic Mir on his shoulder. They went towards the chicken coups, where they heard loud clucking. Four very large foxes were waiting outside the coup, a hungry look in their black, beady eyes.

**"Watch, and learn, bud."** Mir opened his tiny maw, and out of his mouth came several bolts of blue energy that hit all the foxes at once. The poor little creatures were flung back about three feet before they even saw the baby dragon and its master.

"Whoa. That was awesome." Evan said with awe and wonder. He had to admit, the newborn dragon had some skill.

**"Yeah, I know."** Mir threw his snout in the air cockily. **"And you get to use my skills as often as you want! We have the same spirit now, so you can just will me to blast. How awesome is that?"**

"Pretty awesome," Evan grinned.

The dragon groaned a bit. **"I'm getting hungry. What have we got to eat?"**

"I don't know, what do dragons eat?"

**"I may have some instincts that guide me after I'm born, but I don't know everything! Come on, Evan! This is your part of the bargain! You're my master, so you have to take care of me!"**

"Okay, you're a baby, so maybe I should feed you milk."

**"Milk? What's milk? Is it tasty?"**

"It's what babies eat."

**"Then lay it on me!"**

The new Dragon Master walked over to the milk cow. She had cost over a year's worth of the farm's income. A fair price, since the cow gave the farm a lot of hearty, healthy milk.

**"That thing's a bit creepy. I'm not scared, of course! Just saying."**

"That's the thing that'll get you your food." Evan knelt down to put the pail under the cow and milk her. When the pail was half full, Evan pulled the pail closer to him, picked up Mir, laid him next to the pail, and tipped the pail just enough so that Mir could reach the milk.

"**You're feeding me water? Well, if you say so."** Mir took a test sip, and before they both knew it, Mir was gulping down the whole pail. **"Wow, this stuff is really good! What was it called? Milk? Well it really hits the spot!"**

Evan smiled upon hearing that about one of his family's products. Self-pride as the son of farmers, he assumed.

**"I can already feel myself get stronger! That means you'll get stronger too! The pact and all that."**

"Right," Evan said. "How did I end up in this pact anyway? Last time I checked, I never signed up for something like this. Not that this isn't great, though. I just don't know why it happened."

**"I don't know exactly. All I remember before hatching was you and me in the forest. That interaction made the Spirit Pact happen."**

"Wait, that was YOU in that forest? You were that huge dragon?"

**"Glad to see you remember. Bud, you should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!" **Mir was letting loose a bunch or snorts that sounded almost like a dog. If dragons could laugh, then Mir was doing just that.

"Ha, ha, ha." Evan said sarcastically. "But what exactly does the Spirit Pact do?"

**"Like I said, our spirits have become one! As you get stronger, so do I! Vice versa."**

"This all sounds like a big deal." Evan said, overwhelmed.

"**Of course it's a big deal! You're a Dragon Master! Our souls are one! You have access to my powers, and you can now use magic! How are you no-"**

"Wait, magic? I can use magic?"

**"Yeah! That mark on your hand? It lets you use magic. Give it a try!"**

Hesitantly, Evan removed his glove. He stared at the symbol on his right hand. It hadn't changed since the morning he found it. Could something so simple really allow him to use magic?

Evan had always dreamed of becoming an accomplished mage. A hero in the stories he'd love to listen to when he was a little kid. If he could, he'd someday go to Ellinia and study with the mages there. But he was a simple farmboy, and his family was just scraping by. His family needed him to stay here and help around the farm, so any ideas of leaving were out of the question.

From the little he did know about magic, Evan had heard that accumulating magical power would take years to accomplish, and learning how to use it would take additional years.

Ah, what the hell.

Evan held out his hand and put all his focus into the mark. It began to glow with power. The mark didn't hurt, but he could definitely feel power accumulating. A ball of pulsing blue energy formed, floating just above the palm of his hand. Mir looked at the boy, nodding in approval. **"See? I can use my instincts to teach you how to cast spells! We'll be unstoppable!"**

Evan chuckled at Mir's enthusiasm. He was beginning to like the idea of being a Dragon Master. And he knew that his adventure was just beginning.

"I could get used to this," the Dragon Master said with a grin.


	5. Do You Promise?

"Are you sure you remember everything? The last time we went to town, you ended up forgetting to buy Penny's food!" Lania said for the hundredth time, tilting her head slightly up to look at Luminous' face while she talked to him. She was already up to his chin, so she didn't have to move it that much.

"Yes, yes. Of course. And that was one time!" Luminous said, smiling in a way only Lania could make him do. The little girl that he had found, or rather she had found him, in the forest had grown up over the years they'd been together. Not to mention that they had been dating for two years now.

"Oh?" Lania's eyebrow rose. "What about the time you left out thread? You should be glad that we discovered in time to buy some more before the market closed. Otherwise, you would've gone without a coat that winter."

"I tell you, I've endured the harsh snows of El Nath before," Luminous boasted. "The winters here are nothing."

Lania gave him a slight push on the shoulder, laughing. "Said the one who insists on having piles of extra firewood each time."

Luminous was about to reply, before Penny's irritable meow stopped him. "The market's going to close in another two hours. Stop flirting and just go already!"

The couple blushed, but turned around to leave. "Bye, Penny!" Lania called out before closing the wooden door.

As the two walked through the winding forest path to Ellinia, already littered with fallen leaves, the two struck up another conversation to keep themselves busy, this time on the list of items to buy.

"Do we really need fish? I can take care of it with our fishing rod," Luminous said. Having grown up in a family of fishermen, he often went on fishing trips to catch food and to teach Lania.

"We can't catch tuna around these parts, and you know how Penny gets without her precious tuna," Lania replied, shrugging.

"Haha, I guess so," Luminous smiled a bit, before feeling a sudden pain in his head. He stumbled and winced a bit, but despite his best attempts to cover it up as an accident, Lania immediately noticed something was wrong.

"Lumi?" Lania was the only one that could get away with calling him 'Lumi'. "Are you alright?"

"Of course I am…" Luminous started, but trailed off as his headache worsened. His hands flew up to grab the sides of his heads in an unsuccessful attempt to suppress the pain. Memories began to flood into his mind. Bad memories.

"_Mom! Dad!" nine years old Luminous cried, digging through the debris that used to be his home. "Answer me!"_

_ His village, a humble place in the western area of Florina Beach, was now in ruins. The whole place had been torched and ransacked, with the unmoving bodies of his neighbors littering the sandy ground. Dead or unconscious, he didn't want to know._

"_Lu…mi… You're safe…" a weak but familiar voice rasped, and there was a soft shuffling sound._

_Luminous' head whipped around, and he saw his mother, buried under a pile of burning wood. A slightly larger figure was lying next to her, completely still. Luminous' heart almost stopped. "Dad…?" He ran over to his parents, immediately trying to pull the boards off them._

_ His mom gave him a sad smile, blood leaking out of the corner of her mouth. "It's… okay… Please, Lumi, run before they come back."_

"_No!" he cried, his short arms unsuccessfully trying to move a heavy beam. "I'm going to get you guys out of there, and we can all evacuate together!"_

_ A gruff voice suddenly spoke over the crackling of the fire. "Check for any survivors! Let no person leave this place alive!"_

_ "Go!" his mother exclaimed, using her one free arm to give him a nudge. _

_ Luminous sat there in shock, his mind not believing it as his mom's hand and head fell, becoming as still as Luminous' father next to her. "Mom… Stop pretending… Get up..." _

_ "Hey! There's a kid here!" another voice shouted, and a furry hand grabbed his shoulder. Luminous felt himself being spun around to face a large rabbit with a black hat on. "Eliminate him, right boss?"_

_ Luminous stared back, before his brain registered that this was probably one of the invaders. Not exactly sure what he was doing, he stuck his palm out, before feeling it heat up. A brilliant white beam shot forth, knocking the hulking bunny back into some blackened wood. There was a poof and a regular rabbit ran away from where the human-sized one was previously lying._

_ The next hour was a blur. Luminous could later remember being found by a pretty lady in pirate clothes. She took him to a group of adults, where an old man volunteered to temporarily take him in. The elder introduced himself as Grendel the Really Old, and Luminous was transported to a leafy town in a forest. This was where Luminous' career as a mage began._

"C'mon, let's go back. I'm sure that Penny knows some kind of herb to help your headache," Lania said, stopping his flashback and grabbing his arm.

Luminous stopped clutching his head, suddenly standing up straight and shaking her hand away. "Don't touch me."

Lania's gasp caught in her throat when Luminous turned to look at her, both of his eyes a crimson red. Dark energy began to appear around him. "Ha ha…" Luminous broke into a loud laugh that sent shivers down Lania's spine.

"Ah!" Lania cried, a tendril of the dark substance sending her flying into a nearby tree. She crumpled to the ground, blacking out.

"Lania! Wake up!" Luminous cried, back to normal and shaking her, praying to Rhea that she was okay. He could not describe the amount of relief and joy he felt when he felt her stir.

"Lumi?" she muttered, using her hands to help her into a sitting position. Her eyes widened, remembering Luminous' previous display of power. She studied his face, and was calmed by the fact that his left eye was a clear blue again. The panic resurfaced when she looked around her and saw that the trees around them had been reduced to charcoal. "What happened?"

"Look…" Luminous bit his lip, not sure how to explain it. "I have something to tell you. When I fought the Black Mage so long ago… A bit of his power corrupted me. I'm cursed, and you're not safe around me. I have to go."

"No!" Lania exclaimed, her hands shooting up to grab his shoulders and startling Luminous by her sudden energy. "You can't!"

"I'm sorry, Lania… But I can't let you get hurt again," Luminous said, his eyes refusing to meet his girlfriend's. "It's for your own good. And Penny's, too."

Lania looked at him in despair, feeling something warm trickle down her cheek. A tear? The years with Luminous had been so happy, she couldn't remember when she had last cried for real. "I love you, Lumi, curse or no curse. Please don't go…"

Luminous held her in his arms, fighting back his own tears. "I promise that I'll come back for you two. Even the Black Mage can't stop me." He stroked her long, golden hair, remembering years ago when he would comb her messy hair for her. She had grown from a kind young girl to the beautiful woman he loved, and would love to his last breath.

"Promise?" Lania asked, tears freely streaming down her face now.

"I promise." Luminous gently kissed her tear-stained cheek, knowing that it would be a while before he would be reunited with her. Lania turned her head and pressed her lips against his. The two stayed in that position for a while, wishing that this moment would never end.

* * *

**Me: *facepalm* I tried to actually rewrite it myself this time, and look how it turned out. GENIUS. Well, at least now I won't live in the guilt of basically reposting FB's story… And oh god, I can NOT write romance. At all. Nazzah. As a side note, the 23****rd**** was my B-Day! I had the party yesterday, and my friends and I just ended up playing Super Smash Brawl and Mario Kart most of the time. xP Well, review please! Feedback is appreciated **


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